Scene and Heard: Scene's News Blog

Peking Acrobats, LeBron James' Mercedes top our Picks of the Week

Every Monday, Scene calendar editor Cris Glaser provides a random but reliable sampling of things to do in the week ahead. For more options, log onto entertainment.clevescene.com. And check back Friday for C-Notes' Picks of the Weekend.Monday: Car dealers rev up more than 1,000 of the latest rides this week at the 81st annual Cleveland Auto Show. And with gas prices hitting record highs, the fest is spotlighting eco-friendly Hondas, Mustangs, and Camaros fueled by natural gas. Even celebrities are getting in on the act: A couple of the displays show off a 2007 Mercedes S63 owned by the Cavs’ LeBron James, and a 2007 Range Rover straight from the garage of the Browns’ Braylon Edwards. The show runs from noon to 10 p.m. today through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday at the I-X Center, 6200 Riverside Drive. Tickets cost $12.25 and $14.75.
Tuesday: Chicago rocker John Ralston is in Cleveland Heights to hawk his new CD, Sorry Vampire, with its mix of natural street noises, synthesizers, and string ensembles. He’ll also perform tracks from a self-recorded EP, White Spiders, during a 9 p.m. concert at the Grog Shop. An $8 ticket gets you in the door at 2785 Euclid Heights Boulevard. Call 216-321-5588.
Wedneday: Applauded for her groundbreaking studies on gender identity in the early ’80s, New York psychiatrist Carol Gilligan takes a break from the research to sign her debut novel, Kyra, in Legacy Village. She likens the romance story about a Cypriot chick and a Hungarian dude to the classic Greek tale of Virgil’s Aeneid, in which smart people do stupid things when they’ve fallen in love. Gilligan signs her book at 7 p.m. at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 24519 Cedar Road in Lyndhurst. Call 216-691-7000.
Thursday: Playhouse Square morphs into a circus tent for the Peking Acrobats’ Cleveland stop on their 34-city North American tour. The 28-member troupe will bring back four stunts that they debuted nearly 30 years ago. Look for a human merry-go-round rotating on a bamboo pole and the 25-foot-high Tower of Chairs, in which a performer climbs toward the ceiling as she stacks one chair on top of another. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Palace Theatre, 1501 Euclid Avenue. Tickets are $10 to $30 by calling 216-771-8403 or visiting www.playhousesquare.org.